While Catfish Day falls on June 25th and National Fishing Month begins in later July through August, phishing is a type of fraudulent attack used to steal data through emails, fake websites, session hijacking, and more. Scammers are always on the lookout for their next victim. Their goal is to trick you into sending them your hard-earned money. So how do you avoid these types of scams and keep your money safe?
Red Flags of Fraud
Fraud can be hard to spot. There are things to watch for to help you avoid getting hooked and becoming a victim of fraud when you observe the following:
- Unexpected Contact – Someone may contact you out of the blue claiming to be a loved one in danger. This is a scare tactic where the scammer requests on wiring money and keeping the transaction a secret.
- Everything is Urgent – Someone is rude or uses pushy language to pressure you to act immediately.
- Upfront Payment is Required – Pressure to make payment in advance.
- Impersonating bank employees – Someone offers to help you get money back that you didn’t know was missing. The victim would be contacted out of the blue and have instructions on what to do and say while the fraudster is insisting on you to wire money.
- Romantic Emergency – A new online interest pressures you to act immediately and is asking for financial information and doesn’t want to meet in person in this sweetheart scam.
When in doubt, pick up the phone and call the person contacting you to verify payment information whether it’s a business partner, colleague, or vender asking for payment.
Be wary of unfamiliar payment information. Any time new account information is provided for a regular wire payment, you should be skeptical and act with caution.
Don’t click links and attachments right away. Even if the message you receive appears to come from a trusted source, it may be a scammer phishing for sensitive information like your password, account information or other sensitive information.
Confirm email addresses. Your eyes can deceive you, it’s very common for fraudsters to make email addresses that look like legitimate addresses as they can copy company email addresses and tweak them just enough to trick someone.
Question Urgency. If the request you receive states that funds need to be sent right away, you’re most likely dealing with a scam. A key sign is that the requestor only wants to be communicated with through email. This scam could also extend to gift cards, cryptocurrency, or money sent to receive a sweepstakes.
Watch what you post. Being mindful of the information you post on social media and company websites is always a good idea. Fraud can be committed using this information and the last thing you want is for a tweet or photo you post to be the bait (reason) how the fraudster finds you and the scheme is successful.
What to do if you suspect a scam
At Core Bank, the safety and security of your assets are always our highest priority, so we provide you with the tools and resources you need to stay up to date in protecting your identity and assets.
- If someone pressures you, confirm that the urgency is necessary.
- Think it through. Does the request make sense? And if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
- Consult with a friend or family member you trust, even if the scammer tells you not to.
- Go directly to the company or bank they claim to be calling from.
- Call the police or report fraud.
- Read more about Cybersecurity at Core Bank.